GARY, Ind. (WLS) — The family of a 67-year-old security guard who was shot and killed by police at a Gary transit station is pressing for answers about what happened in the moments before the fatal encounter.

Relatives and investigators said Kenneth Williams Sr. was on duty Friday night, working security at the Metro station near 4th Avenue and Broadway, when officers shot him.

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Indiana State Police said the agency was called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting, which involved officers with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and the Gary Police Department. State police said one person was killed, and no officers were hurt.

Williams’ family said they are devastated and trying to make sense of why he died while simply doing his job.

“He went to work as a normal day, you know, a 67-year-old man, and he didn’t come home from work. And I want to know why,” said Kenneth Williams Jr., the victim’s son.

Another son, Raymond Brown, said the family has been left searching for answers.

“It’s my birthday, today, so I’m devastated. That’s all I can say right now. I ain’t got no answers. I just want answers,” Brown said.

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Investigators marked evidence throughout the area surrounding the Metro station following the shooting.

Indiana State Police said the shooting occurred Friday evening near 4th Avenue and Broadway in Gary and involved officers from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and Gary Police Department. The agency has not released details about what led to the gunfire.

“No other information is immediately available to be released,” Indiana State Police said in a statement Saturday morning, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public.

The Lake County Coroner and Medicolegal Death Investigation Team responded to the Metro station at 12:10 a.m. Saturday. The coroner’s office said Williams, of Gary, was positively identified by family members. His death was certified at 1 a.m.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office said a forensic autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday at the Lake County Forensic Science Center in Crown Point. The preliminary cause and manner of death remain pending.

Indiana State Police are leading the investigation. No officers were reported injured.

A prank-focused social media influencer whose videos have drawn viral attention has admitted to criminal impersonation in Arizona, after authorities said he posed as a business employee in a Phoenix-area suburb and staged short-lived but disruptive takeover-style stunts.

The guilty plea drew approval from critics and court-watchers who viewed the case as a warning to online creators chasing viral fame: internet pranks that spill into unlawful behavior can carry real-world consequences.

Heston James Cobb, who creates content under the name “Heston James,” was arrested in July 2025 following incidents in Tempe, where police said he and several others entered local businesses while pretending to be employees, moved into staff-only spaces and ignored demands to leave. Cobb formally entered his plea on Friday.

One video cited in the case showed Cobb dressed in a Chipotle Mexican Grill shirt and telling workers he planned to “clean house.” Moments later, several men in dark shirts poured into the restaurant, disregarded employees’ requests to exit and disrupted operations. At one point, a man posing as a worker used a mop to wipe down a tabletop.

Investigators said the prank videos attracted millions of views online and may have produced substantial revenue for the creator.

Vicki Lopez, an attorney representing Cobb, declined to comment Saturday. The Associated Press left a message with Cobb’s TikTok account seeking comment.

Steve Chucri, president of the Arizona Restaurant Association, said he hopes Cobb’s punishment is “severe” to deter copycats.

“There’s no place for it,” Chucri said. “That’s the last thing we need to put up with in the restaurant industry. The amount of money it takes to operate today is expensive.”

Chucri said the association does not offer any formal training or advice to restaurants on dealing with social media pranksters, and he hopes it does not come to that.

“We’re a society of civility,” Chucri said. “We shouldn’t have to.”

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Matthew Pittman, a social media professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, hopes the arrest will be a warning to influencers about boundaries when creating prank or satirical content.

Pittman said he and others who teach aspiring content creators generally stress that “real world norms and laws” extend into the digital world.

“So doing something that is illegal in real life would also be illegal on social, even if you are doing it for content,” he said. “This is a clear case of going beyond what the law allows.”

Among the recent cases he cited was an influencer in Long Island, New York, who was arrested last year after a series of pranks.

They included videos of him going to eateries; pouring food such as raw eggs or beans over his head; and then running off, leaving the mess to be cleaned by others.

“Every few years a YouTuber, influencer or prank content creator goes a little too far, gets in trouble, and reminds the rest of us creators that digital actions can have real world consequences,” Pittman said.

Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka, a communications professor at Washington State University who teaches about content creation, said it’s not enough for influencers to stay within the law.

They also need to have basic empathy.

“When is it pulling a prank, and when it is being cruel?” Hawkins-Jedlicka said. “Before anything else, this is truly kind of unkind. This influencer was really only thinking about himself and how can I take advantage of this community.”

Leprosy is among humanity’s oldest known illnesses, a disease that for millennia has carried a heavy stigma and been wrongly tied to shame, impurity and social rejection.

Records describing the condition stretch back at least 4,000 years, with researchers believing it likely began in Africa or Asia before appearing in Europe as early as 300 BC.

Over the centuries, leprosy — which can cause painful, discolored or disfiguring patches of skin — spread through communities across Europe and the Middle East. In many places, sufferers were cast out as people feared the illness was a curse.

Modern medicine has dramatically changed that picture. In the US, leprosy, also called Hansen’s disease, is now uncommon thanks to antibiotics and improved hygiene, with roughly 100 to 200 cases reported nationwide each year.

Florida, however, is drawing concern from specialists, who are warning of an unusual rise in cases that may be connected to exposure to contaminated soil and animals.

If left untreated, it can lead to devastating nerve damage and blindness. Prompt treatment with antibiotics, however, can reverse the condition if caught early.

‘Leprosy in the state of Florida is an ongoing, emerging infectious disease that we are identify more and more,’ Dr Norman Beatty, infectious disease physician and associate professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine, told the Daily Mail. 

‘Our job right now as a team is to shed light on leprosy here in Florida because this is a curable disease. The earlier we identify a case of leprosy, the better off a person will be.’ 

Leprosy is an infection caused by the extremely slow-growing bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. 

While about 200,000 people around the world, largely in developing areas, get leprosy every year, only roughly 200 Americans become ill. 

Last year, Florida reported 36 cases, a record high since reporting began in 1992. At least 26 of the cases were contracted within the state, the highest amount of locally acquired cases in any US state for the last decade. 

As of earlier this month, the state’s database reports 19 total cases so far in 2026. 

‘If we look at the last 20 years of data, we are seeing increasing overall numbers of cases,’ Beatty said.  

He notes the culprit in Florida is the nine-banded armadillo, which is found in most parts of Florida and can harbor the bacteria that cause leprosy, as well as contaminated soil near armadillo burrows. 

‘We have found that people who have acquired leprosy here in Florida have had exposure to either soil that has been contaminated with the bacteria and people who have had direct contact with armadillos, either by handling them or eating them,’ he said.

While experts long believed leprosy was highly contagious from person to person, modern evidence shows it is not easily transmittable between humans unless they have close, prolonged contact with an infected person’s saliva or mucus. 

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Beatty estimates that only about five percent of people harboring the bacteria become sickened by leprosy, and it can take up to 20 years after initial contact for symptoms to appear. 

He notes most patients he sees are between 60 and 70 years old and have lived with the infection for anywhere from one to five years, or several decades.

It’s unclear why some people go on to develop leprosy while the majority do not. ‘That is the great mystery of leprosy,’ Beatty told the Daily Mail. 

‘From what we know currently, there are some genetic predispositions that would allow a person to develop a different form of this disease, but for the most part, we don’t entirely understand who is at risk for developing leprosy.’ 

As the bacteria multiply, symptomatic patients develop discolored or lighter bumps on the skin, painless ulcers and swelling and thick, dry skin. Over time, areas with discolored skin slowly become numb as the bacteria attack peripheral nerves near the skin. 

‘The combination of having an abnormal skin lesion plus the development of decreased sensation at the site really points toward an investigation for leprosy,’ Beatty said. 

A skin biopsy using specific dyes is necessary to make a leprosy diagnosis, and this specific requirement, Beatty notes, along with leprosy’s rarity, can contribute to many patients going undiagnosed for several years. 

Once detected, leprosy is easily treatable with antibiotics such as dapsone, rifampin and clofazimine. Beatty notes most patients take a combination of three antibiotics once a month for one to two years. They will also receive ongoing treatment to evaluate possible complications such as nerve damage. 

‘This is a curable disease,’ Beatty said. ‘With appropriate treatment, a person can be cured and move on with their life.’ 

To avoid contracting leprosy, Beatty urges Floridians to avoid any contact with nine-banded armadillos, which includes touching, hunting or eating them. People with armadillo burrows in their yards should also avoid touching the surrounding soil, especially if they have open wounds in which the bacteria can enter. 

‘Awareness of this emerging infectious disease is important, but we also want to not raise any alarms,’ Beatty said. 

‘Really the goal is to demystify this disease and recognize its presence in our state, and to continue to research it, so that way we can have a better understanding of what transmission is like and why certain populations are getting infected.’  

North Carolina health officials are asking anyone who handled baby goats at a mobile petting zoo to reach out to their local health department after several of the animals tested positive for rabies.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the goats came from Farm Adventures, a Harmony-based mobile petting zoo that brought animals to off-site events in multiple counties.

According to NCDHHS, people who had contact with baby goats from Farm Adventures at the Harmony site or during an off-site event between July 28 and Aug. 27 should contact their local health department to find out whether preventive medication is recommended.

NCDHHS said Farm Adventures hosted off-site events during that time frame that included children and older adults across several counties. The agency said event organizers are being notified, the investigation is still underway, and more details about possible exposure sites will be shared as they become available.

In a Facebook statement, Farm Adventures said four of its baby goats had contracted rabies and that the animals had been euthanized to prevent further spread.

The petting zoo identified the goats as Molly, Maggie, Cow and Uno.

“We are working closely with public health officials, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, and animal control to address this issue and ensure the safety of our animals and clients,” Farm Adventures said.

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According to Farm Adventures, the baby goats were housed in a separate pen away from the other animals at the petting zoo.

The four goats were too young to receive their vaccinations when a skunk entered their pen, according to Farm Adventures. While the skunk was removed, the petting zoo was not aware that the goats had been bitten.

“They showed no sign or symptoms of rabies,” Farm Adventures said.

Farm Adventures said one of the animals was ultimately sent for a necropsy after its veterinarian investigated what was happening. State health officials said several goats tested positive for rabies at the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health.

“These past few days have been incredibly difficult for us,” Farm Adventures said.

Rabies is a viral disease that is deadly if people do not receive medical care before symptoms begin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The virus primarily spreads through bites or scratches from an infected animal. Bats, skunks, raccoons and foxes are the animals most frequently found with rabies in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The CDC said roughly 100,000 Americans receive rabies vaccinations following a potential exposure each year.

Human rabies infections are extremely rare in the U.S., and no human cases have been reported in North Carolina since 2011, according to NCDHHS.

At least one person died and several others were hurt Saturday morning when a pickup truck veered onto a sidewalk during an annual bicycle festival in Colorado, authorities said.

The Chevrolet pickup left the roadway and drove onto a crowded sidewalk around 11:45 a.m., hitting multiple pedestrians before crashing into a tree in Old Town Fort Collins, according to Fort Collins Police Services.

Investigators do not currently believe the pedestrians were deliberately targeted in the devastating Fort Collins crash, police said.

Six people, including the driver, were taken to the hospital with a range of injuries. Officials had not immediately released details on their conditions.

One victim, whose identity has not yet been released, was later pronounced dead, Fort Collins Police Services said.

“This was a tragic day for many in our community,” Fort Collins Police Chief, Jeff Swoboda said in a press release. 

“We recognize the impact that this incident will have on those involved, the witnesses, and the responders,” Swoboda said, adding that “victim advocates are supporting those involved in what happened today.”

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“I’m appreciative of the quick response of our officers, the assistance of our emergency partners, and the community members who helped during this incident,” the chief said. 

The fatal crash took place less than a mile away from the Tour de Fat bicycle parade, which draws in large crowds annually to the area, according to 9News. 

Police said there were numerous bystanders and patrol officers in the area at the time of the collision because of the event.

The FCPS Collision Reconstruction and Scene Handling Team are investigating the circumstances leading up to the fatal collision — including if impairment was a factor. 

An initial investigation determined that the truck driver reversed from a parking spot on Mountain Avenue and struck another vehicle. 

The truck then drove forward onto the sidewalk, striking multiple pedestrians before colliding with a tree and coming to a stop. 

Authorities closed the site of the crash for around six hours while investigators worked the scene. 

The Post reached out to FCPS but did not immediately hear back.